The Honest Courtesan

As regular readers know, I’m serious about my traditions and rituals, and not inclined to treat them in a loosy-goosy fashion.  So it takes a lot to delay my tree-trimming, which I tend to do on the day after Thanksgiving like clockwork.  But I really wanted to get the waterproof coating (see this coming Friday’s column) done in the shower before it’s too cold to work with the stuff, and since we’re supposed to be getting a coldfront this weekend I didn’t want to risk delaying.  So after Chekhov and I went out and found this tree last Friday, I put it in the stand and gave it water, but did nothing else with it that day.  On Saturday I had to do the second coat in the shower, plus too many other small chores (like making stock from the turkey carcass) to have time.  But Sundays are my light writing day, so after I finished the third coat I was able to knock out my other chores pretty quickly, and trimmed the tree Sunday night.  I think it came out pretty nicely; the trees around here are spindly compared to the ones we had in Oklahoma, but it’s still very satisfying to get a tree from one’s own woods.  But while I’ve got your attention: please consider donating to my toy drive!  The last few years I’ve started slow and still did well, so I’m not worried about this year’s slow start again.  But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to remind y’all every chance I get!